FREE DOWNLOAD Are you Ready to Welcome Staff Back to the Workplace

Following the government’s tentative plans to lift the lockdown, employees working from home or furloughed will expect to return to work over the next few months.

Now is the time to consider what your business is likely to look like in a few months’ time. What steps do you need to take to ensure you have the right people in place to succeed?

It was these very questions we set out to answer in collaboration with Irwin Mitchell’s Elaine Huttley, during a recent event. As we can’t meet in person right now, we thought we’d connect with some of you virtually through a webinar.

Didn’t manage to make it to one of our two webinars this week and last? Never fear! Here’s what you missed, summarised in a handy blog post!

And…

Keep scrolling to get your hands on Elaine’s checklist for getting ready for staff to come back to the workplace – it’s free to download!

Risk assessments

Before heading back into the workplace, a COVID-secure risk assessment will have to be conducted to identify work activities that could cause increased risk of coronavirus, decide who could be at risk, and settle on how you’re going to take steps to reduce that risk.

It’s a good idea to talk with your employees about this to ensure all their concerns are addressed.

Don’t forget: if you hire more than 50 people, you’ll need to publish this risk assessment on your website!

Always consider those who’ll be at greater risk too, such as those who were shielding at the height of the pandemic, pregnant women and BAME members of staff.

Asking staff to return to work

If you’re ending furlough for some members of staff, bringing people back to a traditional workplace after a period of working from home, or a combination of both, you’ll need to give a reasonable amount of notice to do so. Do this in writing for furloughed staff, or those you want to return for some of their contractual hours.

Set out all the terms and conditions that will apply to a new COVID-safe way of operating and explain the steps that you have taken to make wherever they will be working safer for them going forward.

This will help put uneasy minds to rest but be prepared to have more in depth or personalised talks with those members of staff who are particularly apprehensive about a return to the office or factory floor after an extended period of being in lockdown.

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Want to hear more from Elaine and Workforce on HR issues? You’re in luck! We’re in the process of getting a brand-new podcast up and ready for you, so stay tuned in the coming weeks…

In the meantime, why not follow us on social media to keep up to date with the latest company news, blog posts, competitions, quizzes and loads more!